Partners in Crime

They live for crime. Not the refugees accused of committing them, but Germany’s largest opposition party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Repeatedly denigrating refugees as lawbreakers, a cursory reading of the party’s Twitter account reveals a problematic investment in breaking German law. The repetition of the anxiety reads like projection as much as it does fear.

Take the following Tweet from AfD co-chair Alexander Gauland. Reflecting on attacks staged by four migrants on in Amberg, he writes:

Translation: “The caning attack shows #Amberg once again the asylum crisis completely overwhelms the rule of law. The individual right to political asylum is impractical and out of date.”

Meaning: The AfD welcomes the Amberg attacks because they demonstrate that laws which the AfD don’t like – such as granting asylum to refugees – should be dispensed with, since refugees are criminals, and thus will take advantage of them.

Significance: Alexander Gauland expresses no compassion for the victims of the attacks. He finds greater value in their serving as props to enable migrant violence, so as to provide a pretext for preventing refugee access to Germany.

Translation: “Good morning (German flag)! The only correct action for the whipping boy of #Amberg: The 4 perpetrators may not be released until they enter the soil of their homeland.” Time to protect the citizens determined. Time for the #AfD!

Meaning: The use of the term “whipping boy” is revealing because it indicates a valuation of the Amberg victims as sacrifices to limit migration. The ritualistic character of the language gives the conclusion an especially anachronistic, time-bound feel.

Significance: Few German parties get called “Nazis” as frequently as Alternative für Deutschland, with good reason. Though it attempts to speak in a more contemporary vernacular, its language is always burdened by 19th-century political ideologies.

Translation: “These people should not be here! +++ (1/2) #Amberg thugs cannot be deported because, despite a rejected application, they started a cook apprenticeship while others are minors who are third in the current asylum procedure …”

Meaning: Even though the culprits have not been formally proven guilty, they cannot be deported because they are being taught non-violent skills to survive, and earn an honest living. Germany would rather refugees be condemned to poverty abroad and not have the opportunity as adolescents to be fully formed and educated according to German standards.

Significance: Ethnically cleansing Germany trumps the necessity of educating migrants and giving them skills, such that they might be less inclined to seek asylum, and commit acts of terror against NATO forces abroad, or against Germans, at home.